Anshina Verma Blog 12- A Hero's Journey To a Porcelain Abyss
Its not about negligence. Its not failure. It's about facing your fears. Life is about making mistakes. What truly defines you is the way you extract your AirPods from the murky depths of a toilet.
I take a seat, as my legs burn after the agony that is badminton conditioning. I squeeze my eyes shut and exhale a breath as I try to force my legs to bend in ways my body does not wish them to. I essentially try to sit down, and lactic acid makes it incredibly difficult for me. Oddly enough lacitic acid is never effective in my skincare, but is very effective in making my physical movement rather difficult.
Regardless, I persevere; I do the impossible. The unthinkable. I Squat!
But I get too confident, and the universe comes to reclaim its power. To tell me that I have not and should never believe that I will triumph over the demon that is lactic acid generation. As if this could not get any more cruel, the universe waits to deliver this horrid news to me.
I stand up gingerly, and as I turn to close the lid, I see them. Staring back at me. The two most beloved pieces of technology I own.
My AirPods.
I’ve often said that forgetting your AirPods at home is like leaving the house without your sword in medieval Europe. You are powerless against the whims and hellish outcomes of your surroundings. Frankly, I am subjected to hellish experiences with my headphones. I cannot imagine how I would cope without them.
All thoughts that rush into my head, as I stare in horror at what sits in the toilet bowl.
But regardless of how my AirPods fell into inappropriate locations, I believe this happened to me for a reason.
Was it gruesome? Without a doubt. Was it cruel? Absolutely! It was also a much-needed wake-up call.
As I don rubber gloves, I mentally prepare myself, squeezing my eyes shut to reach into the forbidden bowl. But I’d rather not get into the details.
After I extracted my AirPods and contemplated my existence, I realized it was now nearly 2:30 AM and that if I didn’t sleep now, I would be a sluggish zombie in the morning.
But as I rushed off to school the next morning, late again, I heard one of my friends calling me. Naturally, I turned to look, and they mentioned that they had been calling me like this for days, but I never noticed because my AirPods blocked the sound of their voice.
I kept walking around school, and many of my friends told me the same thing: that they would call me frequently and that I would be unable to hear them. I realized that my AirPods kept me shielded from unbearable circumstances, but also prevented me from experiencing pleasant ones, and thus I took my mother’s advice and reduced my time with my AirPods. Although I will be honest, the reduction was not revolutionary.
Hi Anshina! When I read the first line of your blog, the rest of it wasn’t at all what I had pictured. Regardless of the strange (in a good way) theme of this blog, it is extremely well-written and, in a way, poetic. I wonder how you dropped your AirPods in the toilet in the first place, as I have only heard of dropping a phone in the toilet (something that has almost happened to me on numerous occasions), and I hope they weren't damaged… Anyways, I can definitely relate to you saying how “forgetting your Airpods at home is like leaving the house without your sword in medieval Europe.” Everywhere I go, even if I am out with my friends, I just need my AirPods. Whenever I can't find my AirPods right before school, I enter a spiral of panic, and I just know the day ahead of me is about to be terrible. I always have at least one AirPod in, even if there is nothing playing. I just feel empty without it. This is definitely an addiction, I presume, and I honestly did not listen to my mom's advice to “reduce my time with my AirPods.” Who knows, maybe this is why I have a hard time hearing people who are speaking quietly, and this is why they get annoyed at me, since I have to repeatedly ask them to repeat it. Thanks for sharing this incredibly unique blog!
ReplyDeleteAnshina, this blog was a very intriguing read. You seamlessly were able to connect many seemingly unrelated ideas in a way that worked extremely well. I can wholeheartedly relate to the pain of having to move when I am sore. After full days of practice, the idea of even getting out of bed is painful (safe to say I spend a significantly longer amount of time sleeping at times like this). Something that I myself don’t experience is an attachment to my AirPods. While I love listening to music, I have never been the person who requires having AirPods in all day. This is somewhat tied to the fact that I get distracted easily so having multiple sounds happening all at once is essentially a breeding ground for overstimulation for me. Music for me is used to fill silence rather than an accompaniment to everyday noise. If I were to constantly have my AirPods in, I would run into a similar issue as you with not hearing anything my friends say to me; I run into that issue without even listening to anything. I do appreciate the idea of your AirPods shielding you from “unbearable circumstances” because it is true that for many people, music acts as a safe haven and is often comforting to listen to. I hope you don’t run into any more issues with your “porcelain abyss,” I enjoyed reading your blog this week.
ReplyDeleteYour blog this week (and arguably any week) is made up of uniquely entertaining dramatic prose; not to call your predicament dramatic, just to say that it was fun to read! It is certainly quite the situation to get into, and probably has something to do with women’s pockets being so dang small…but I digress, it is also a situation which would likely be difficult to explain to someone from before the 2010s. To not have a wire connecting the earbuds together, and to have a special case for them, would sound improbable to anyone 15 years ago. As would carrying them around everywhere too, probably. Though the wirelessness is a net positive (not fumbling around with tangled earbuds is great) the smooth little wet soap bar-like container leads to maybe some not great results, and your experience is a great case study.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your conclusion that it’s a good idea to cut down on the time you spend wearing AirPods, because growing fungus or cultivating an infection in your ear would not be fun. But, more importantly, a close friend of mine always wears her headphones and sometimes I want to start a conversation with her, but I know that she’ll have to go and pause her music and take them off to hear what I have to say. It seems like too much of a hassle for me to bother her with most of the time so I don’t say anything, and end up missing out on the things she could have said in response. Headphones/earbuds tend to be interpreted as the person wearing them not wanting to talk to anyone, so unfortunately we all just drift past each other nowadays. Anyway, good job on your blog!
Hi Anshina! I love how you managed to turn something that is an experience we all somewhat fear (and that is somewhat uncommon—did your AirPods just like lose their grip in your ear and slide out or…) into a moment of reflection. Thank you, by the way, for unlocking a new fear…
ReplyDeleteOn a bit of a more serious note, I think it’s so interesting how something that you use to block out stress and ground yourself can also isolate you at the same time. The same is true of technology itself: it helps us access important services and information, and allows us to be more connected, but at the same time, it can sometimes stop us from living in the present and distance us from the live people who are right next to us. In your case, AirPods might allow you to listen to your favorite songs on repeat, but in exchange for being able to hear the voice of your friend calling out to you.
Your blog also made me realize how much power tiny possessions are able to exert over us, and how much they are able to ground us. For you, it is your AirPods; for me, it is my jewelry. Even if I am only going out for groceries, I physically cannot leave the house without putting on a pair of earrings, even if they are tiny little studs. If I do not wear my earrings, I feel like I am forgetting something the entire day or that something is missing. The same goes for my rings, which I can never let out of my sight, even though I am constantly taking them off because they keep overstimulating me. Thank you for sharing your very interesting experience!